Int Task 3
Windows 7 Versus Ubuntu Linux :
A Number Crunching Showdown
vs.
Jeffrey Howard
INT1 Task 3
Western Governors University
A. Project Plan
The purpose of this project is to determine the fastest computer operating system for solving mathematical equations. Which operating system, Windows 7 or Ubuntu Linux, performs the best when it comes to pure number crunching? In order to test this question, the researcher ran a Java based application that benchmarks the ability of each operating system to perform a mathematical operation across three different data types and a second, more complex, mathematical operation. The Java based application, Java Micro Benchmark, performs each mathematical operation eight times per test and the researcher ran the test five times for each operating system. The mathematical operations testsed by Java Micro Benchmark are integer arithmetic, long integer arithmetic, double-precision floating point arithmetic and trigonometric arithmetic. This method gave the researcher data for forty tests per mathematical operation for each operating system. The resulting data is then compared to determine which operating system is able to process mathematical operations the fastest.
Research into which operating system performs better is extremely relevant in today’s technological environment. Every task that a computer performs is a mathematical operation. An area that is highly affected by the performance of the operating system is computer programming. When a computer programmer writes a program, the program must be converted from a programming language into a language the computer can understand, a process called compiling. Compiling is very hardware intensive and completely dependent on mathematical operations. The faster a computer is able to perform mathematical tasks, the faster compiling will run as well. Knowing which operations system performs better can save software developers time, which in turn saves money in development.
A Number Crunching Showdown
vs.
Jeffrey Howard
INT1 Task 3
Western Governors University
A. Project Plan
The purpose of this project is to determine the fastest computer operating system for solving mathematical equations. Which operating system, Windows 7 or Ubuntu Linux, performs the best when it comes to pure number crunching? In order to test this question, the researcher ran a Java based application that benchmarks the ability of each operating system to perform a mathematical operation across three different data types and a second, more complex, mathematical operation. The Java based application, Java Micro Benchmark, performs each mathematical operation eight times per test and the researcher ran the test five times for each operating system. The mathematical operations testsed by Java Micro Benchmark are integer arithmetic, long integer arithmetic, double-precision floating point arithmetic and trigonometric arithmetic. This method gave the researcher data for forty tests per mathematical operation for each operating system. The resulting data is then compared to determine which operating system is able to process mathematical operations the fastest.
Research into which operating system performs better is extremely relevant in today’s technological environment. Every task that a computer performs is a mathematical operation. An area that is highly affected by the performance of the operating system is computer programming. When a computer programmer writes a program, the program must be converted from a programming language into a language the computer can understand, a process called compiling. Compiling is very hardware intensive and completely dependent on mathematical operations. The faster a computer is able to perform mathematical tasks, the faster compiling will run as well. Knowing which operations system performs better can save software developers time, which in turn saves money in development.
Citations: Larabel, Michael (2010) “Workstation Benchmarks: Windows 7 vs. Linux” Retrieved from http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_win7_ws&num=1 TuxRadar.com (2009) “Benchmarked: Ubuntu vs Vista vs Windows 7” Retrieved from http://www.tuxradar.com/content/benchmarked-ubuntu-vs-vista-vs-windows-7